Background

The demand for trustworthy organic vegetables and potatoes continue to rise but can not be met by the current production methods. Organic animal manure is a limited resource, which can only fulfill a small part of the fertilizer requirement. The current alternative is conventional manure, which harms the trustworthyness of the organic products. Moreover, the farmland is without plant cover in periods of the year, which increases the risk of nitrate leaching and decreases productivity.

Therefore, we see a strong need for new methods to improve fertilizer supply, nitrogen utilisation and the productivity of cropping systems without compromising the trustworthiness of organic products and soil fertility in the long term.

Purpose of the project

In DoubleCrop we will develop and implement new intensive organic cropping systems for row crops, including higher diversity and utilisation of resources. This will be done using double cropping (partial intercropping), plant-based fertilizer and winter plant cover. The purpose of the project is to stop the use of conventional fertilizer and decrease the negative impact on the the soil through nutrient losses, while instead increasing the productity. 

Cropping systems and fertilizers developed in DoubleCrop are expected to increase the yield of vegetables and potatoes and increase the utilisation of nitrogen, while the soil fertility is improved. Results and new methods will benefit commercial crop production and improve the ability to meet the demand for trustworthy and healthy organic products.

The project runs in 2017-2020